Senior year
by fangirl103
Summary: Mattie had grown up in the shadow of his brother, Alfred's, glory. Their mother was dead and their uncles struggled to raise them. But now it's Senior year of high school and Matthew has a friend for the first time. A stranger named Gilbert. But who's to say how well their friendship is going to go, with Matthew's family?
1. Chapter 1 A kind stranger

Matthew was never really noticed in his entire life. His younger, twin, brother, Alfred, was always the star. You see, while both boys were quite young (younger than they can remember), their mother had died of terminal cancer. Their Uncle Arthur had taken them in with his partner Francis. Arthur favored Alfred, wanting the best for him and seeing as he resembled his dead sister quite a lot. But, Francis preferred Matthew. It was common for him to call Matt "Mon petit d'enfant" or "Mathieu" as they would pronounce his name in the language of love. But as both twins got older, both guardians found it harder and harder to control Alfred. He was always the "hero" and found ways of cheating to get him to be the star. He noticed Matthew up until they were both starting high school. At that point, Alfred had become that one kid who was super popular, but was also kind of annoying. While as Matt just remained silent. Every now and then his brother would notice him and give him a "Hey Mattie!" but that was just about it.

Now it was their final year in high school. Matt was still struggling to be noticed, and Alfred was getting all of the attention… again. He walked into his first hour, Pre-Calculus. Looking at the seating chart the teacher had already assigned, he made his way to his seat, middle row, all the way in the back. He walked past everyone he's known since elementary school. Some grew up to be nice, some a pain in the ass. A few kids he knew died in a car accident a year or so ago. Sitting in the seat next to his was the most gorgeous man he had ever laid eyes on. He was a very muscular guy, must've worked out a lot, but that wasn't what caught Matt's attention. His skin was pale white, and his hair was a beautiful kind of silver. When Matthew sat next to him, the boy (should he say boy? He looked more like a god… but we'll say man. He was easily a senior as well) looked at him. His eyes were a startling, breathtaking, shade of red. He didn't mean to, but immediately Matt blushed. No one looked at him. They usually thought no one was sitting next to him.

"My name is Gilbert" the man said, holding a hand out. Matthew quickly studied it with his eyes before shaking his hand.

"I-I'm Matt" He replied, in a voice he used quite often… soft, quiet, and shy like. It wasn't as if he wanted to use it… it was just what he did. And raised a shaky hand to shake his new friends hand.

"Are you shy, Matt?" Gilbert asked, his voice loud and thick with an accent that seemed to be close to a German accent… just not quite… "Not that the awesome me would mind it, I was just wondering."

Matt smiled and shrugged. "No one has ever seemed to notice me… Not since Middle School. My twin is always in the way" He admitted.

Gilbert opened his mouth to respond, but the teacher, Mr. Doyle, cut him off in starting to take attendance.

_Bieldschmidst _

That's what his name was, then… Gilbert Bieldschmidst. Matthew smiled up at him and they got through normal first day activities. A sheet that would introduce everyone and things they have done in their lives. Mattie stayed close to Gilbert, he didn't know anyone else in his class and Gilbert, though he is a stranger, made him feel… safe.

As it turned out, they had a lot of the same classes together. Four out of the seven hours in the school day, Matt spent in a class room with Gilbert. Pre-Cal(1st hour), Astronomy(3rd hour), Lunch was shared that lead into 5th hour and 5th hour cooking class was one class that Matt knew he would never forget and World History(7th hour). One of their teachers, for World History, had given them a lot of homework to do on the first day. Upon hearing the assignment, Matthew seemed to freeze. Everything on the assignment sheet seemed to be on the other side of the world, and was too advanced for him to know about. Gilbert glanced over and saw his reaction to the homework.

"Do you think you would need some help on the homework? I am from that side of the world."

Matt looked up at him incredulously. How had he remembered that he was still there?! Most people would've forgotten and moved on by now. But instead of being rude, like Alfred would've, he simply nodded; glad that he could get some sort of help. Instead of inviting him home with him, or to go to his house, Gilbert wrote his phone number down and slid it across the table.

"The all awesome me is available at all times of day, and night, to talk about anything and everything." He grinned and sent Matt a wink, causing Matthew to blush.

Matthew got on the bus that afternoon, and sat down where he usually sat during his past three years attending this high school, in the middle of the bus. He quickly plugged Gilbert's phone number into his phone, sending a simple "_Hello_" text before his brother paraded onto the bus. It was one of those rare occasions that Alfred noticed his twin before sitting down next to him, a teasing grin on his face like always.

"Hiya, lil' bro!" Alfred practically shouted, "How was the first day for you?" He pushed his hair back, but his cowlick stood out on his head as usual. He could never get that thing to stay down, even as he was a child.

Matthew smiled as Gilberts text came through, a simple "_Hey Matt"._

"It went well" he replied to his brother's question. "I made a friend." Holding his phone up proudly.

Alfred tore the phone from his hands and looked at the name.

"Gilbert? I know that guy! He's in one of my classes. He's a jackass. Don't be friends with him."

Matthew rolled his eyes and looked at his phone as another text from Gilbert came in.

_Would you have an issue if I gave you a nickname? I've been thinking about it and you remind me of my pet bird._

He took the phone back from his brother and struggled to think of a response to send back.

_Sure… What were you thinking of?_

He responded with incredible speed. A nickname appeared on the screen, and to Matt it was simple yet beautiful.

_Birdie… From here on out, you are Birdie._

Matthew smiled at his phone. He must've had a look of adoring because Alfred looked over his shoulder.

"Birdie? You've gotta be kidding me! That's hardly a nick name! It's more like a pet name our parents would use for each other…. You didn't get a friend, Mattie, you got yourself a _boyfriend_!"

Matthew responded with a smiley face, indicating that he liked the name, and hid the phone in his pocket, feeling the satisfying vibrations as Gilbert sent messages to him. Probably answers to tonight's homework.

Upon arriving home, Alfred went running in the house shouting.

"MATTIE'S GOT A BOYFRIEND! MATTIE'S GOT A BOYFRIEND!" was all Matthew heard as he walked in the house.

Arthur looked up from his tea with a startled look on his face, Francis walked out of the kitchen, sleeves pulled up to his elbows(probably washing dishes), a confused look on his face.

"What did you say, Alfred?" Arthur asked. Alfred turned to him, grinning from ear to ear that he was able to get the news out first. "Mattie's got a boyfriend. It's the new German that moved in our school."

Matthew watched them discuss the topic as he took his shoes off and moved into his room. He pulled his phone out and found three messages from Gilbert.

_I'm glad you like the name._

_Birdie, text me when you're ready to start working on the homework._

_You're not busy… are you, Birdie?_

He smiled at the phone and responded, letting him know he was ready to get started on the homework and pulled it out, chewing on his pencil. He watched the phone as the answers came rolling in, and quickly wrote them down on the assignment sheet. It was filled with answers he prayed were correct within minutes. The topic of discussion wandered then. They talked about their families, their lives, where they were from, places they traveled to. It turns out that Gilbert has a younger brother named Ludwig who's an alcoholic. He was raised by an old Uncle Fritz who's close to being dead, and his parents abandoned them right after Luddy was born.

_What're you going to do after your Uncle Fritz dies?_

_I'm hoping Luddy will finally propose to his girlfriend. They've been going at it for over a year, and he still denies it. I'm hoping he'll be happy and I'm hoping to settle down with someone. But I'm still looking for that special person._

_You're single?_

_Yea… are you single, Birdie? A cutie like you has to be taken up by someone. _


	2. Chapter 2 Ivan

_Yea… are you single, Birdie? A cutie like you has to be taken up by someone. _

It was at this that Matt blushed. Someone in his doorway cleared his throat, wanting Matthew's attention.

"What's his name, Mathieu?" Francis asked. Matt looked up from his phone, more flustered that he was caught blushing than anything.

"H-His name is Gilbert… He's just a friend, Papa." Matt told him. Ever since he was little, Francis had been the kinder of the two adults towards Matthew. Giving him all the love and attention he wanted, which wasn't very much but it was something, and even little gifts here and there. They had taken a trip to Quebec once. Matthew learned about his heritage there from his father's mysterious side of the family. But the only gift that Matthew really, truly loved was his toy bear, Kuma. He held him close to his chest as Francis sat on the edge of his bed.

"You never really got a chance to discover yourself… Did you?" He asked. Matthew shook his head in response. "Let me tell you something then, Mathieu," Francis said, obviously trying to word his sentence carefully, "Boys are very… tricky things to handle. You have to be sure the one you're… attracted to… is the right one. They can hurt you in a lot more ways than physical."

Matthew nodded, wondering when the hell he had time to come up with this speech. He and Arthur were always bickering, even over the small things. Sometimes it ended with the silent treatment for hours. But they somehow made it work in their busy schedules.

Francis grinned. "Do you think your little… friend can send us a picture of himself?" He asked. Matthew turned back to his phone where one little word was on the screen.

_Birdie? _

Matthew managed to use his fingers to type his next text, despite them shaking so much.

_Yea, sorry, I was a bit busy for a moment. I'm single. My Papa wants to know if you could send a picture of yourself. _

A minute passed by, then two. Finally, a picture of Gilbert appeared on the screen. His hair was damp, as if he had just gotten out of the shower, and he had a cocky grin on his face that made Mattie want to kiss him and smack him at the same time. He noticed how his face was squared like, how he squinted his eyes as he grinned. And on his shoulder was a little yellow fluff that was…. A bird? Was this the bird that he had been telling Matthew about? He showed the photo to Francis, who studied it and nodded approvingly.

"Very handsome, I wouldn't mind it if he came around the house." And with that he left.

Gilbert looked at his phone. He saw that he had seen the message, a plus for someone with an iPhone. He tossed his phone on his bed and slipped Gilbird back into his cage. Gilbird hopped around, acting like the weird bird he was. Gilbert threw the towel in his lap onto the floor, and lied back onto his bed. It was getting close to dinner, so he was wondering whether he should cook or just order pizza.

Someone knocked on his door and opened it. When Gilbert looked up, it was his little brother's girlfriend, Felicia. She was a brunette Italian who had came with them when they moved here from Germany. She was usually in a good mood, always craving pasta.

"Ciao, Gilbert!" She greeted happily. "Ludwig wanted me to check on you and ask what we were having for dinner." She spoke very quickly, and Gilbert had to concentrate to understand her. Both Felicia and Ludwig were both sophomores, and had practically made their entire future together. Feli didn't seem to be going anywhere soon, and they didn't have the money to send her home anyways. He sighed and sat up.

"I'll be ordering pizza… tell my little brother of mine to stay out of the alcohol… at least until the weekend." He knew that there was no way he could break his brother's habit, at least not easily.

Luddy came to the door and opened it wider. "What'd you say?" He wrapped an arm around Felicia, and had a beer in one hand. He took a swig from the beer.

"I said I'll order pizza," Gilbert sighed, while he was picking up his phone. There was a message from Birdie that came through that made him smile.

_Thanks for the pic! Papa said you're welcome to come over anytime you want._

The next day at school, Mattie practically ran to his first hour class. He was so excited to actually have a friend! When he got there, Gilbert was sitting in his seat, looking out the window. He looked like an angel, and it took Matt's breath away. He walked over and sat down next to him.

"Hey, Gil." He greeted in his soft voice.

Gilbert turned to look at him and smiled. "Guten Morgen, Birdie."

"I, um, what did you say?" Mattie asked, trying to understand the language that Gilbert had used so easily around him.

He leaned over and said, very clearly, "Good Morning, Birdie."

Mattie blushed and they began that day's work. Mr. Doyle was giving an awful lot of work for only the second day of school, in Matt's opinion. He sighed and got to work on it.

The day seemed to lag on. Gilbert seemed excited to talk to him, but not as excited as yesterday. It lead him to wonder if there was something going on at his home that made him go through swings like this. At the start of fifth hour, Mattie went to go talk to him when a large looming figure walked over to him. It was a boy, he was rather tall, but he seemed friendly enough. He also had silver hair like Gilbert, but his eyes were a purple color. He was wearing a long scarf, although it was quite warm in the cooking classroom.

"Hello," the boy said, a smile on his face, "I'm Ivan. It seems that our teacher has paired us up together as partners." There was an aura about him that made Matthew uncomfortable, but he still smiled and nodded.

"I'm Matt," he whispered in greeting, "Let's, um… Let's go find our seats." Ivan smiled and lead him to where they were sitting. He had an accent to him… the more Matt thought about it, the more he realize it may have been a Russian accent. The hour went really well. Gilbert was across the room with a girl who was glaring daggers at Mattie. Ivan explained that it was his crazy little sister, Natalia. She had some sort of problem that constantly made her want to _be _with him.

At the end of the hour, Matthew had shown how to successfully flip pancakes without using a spatula. Gilbert and Ivan watched his the whole time in awe.

"You are very good at this, Matt." Ivan speculated. He smiled and wrote something down on a sheet of paper. "Do you want to come to my house tonight? I have to watch Natalia and I don't know how to cook very well."

Matt nodded politely. What could go wrong with a couple of hours at Ivan's? He took the piece of paper, which had his address on it, and packed his stuff up as the bell rang.

"What did Ivan give you?" a comforting voice asked. Matthew looked up and saw Gilbert standing there.

"I-It was just his house address," Mattie admitted, he was never good at telling lies. "He wants me to come visit him while he has to babysit his sister."

Gilbert seemed slightly uncomfortable with this, but didn't say anything. He left him there and walked to his next class.

After school Ivan was waiting out front. He was leaning against a small car with his little sister in the back. Upon seeing Matthew, he smiled.

"I hope your parents do not mind," He said, opening the passenger door for Matt. "I'll give you a ride back."

Matt slipped into the car and saw Gilbert across the parking lot with someone who looked to be younger than him. He had blonde hair that was slicked back and an expression on his face like he was constantly getting orders in the military. They made eye contact for but a moment, then Ivan started the car, and they left.


	3. Chapter 3 Trouble

It had been a fun night at Ivan's. The two sat and got to know each other. Ivan was from Russia, along with his two sisters. Natalia was only three when they left, and his older sister, Irine, was ten. Their parents didn't make it across the border to Ukraine to escape to America, though. They were captured and taken back into the country. Ivan explained all the hardships he and his sisters had gone through. The hunger, the pain, the escaping... It left Matthew to wonder how this boy could be happy as he could.

As the night went on, he noticed that Ivan never took off his scarf, which was pretty weird. But, being himself, he never asked about it, not wanting to be rude. Throughout the night, Matthew often caught Natalia glaring at him from around a corner.

Ivan walk Matt home that night, after Irine returned home from her work. The two of them had shared a few laughs on the walk home. On the porch, when he arrived home, was Alfred. He was waiting with McDonald's on his lap(of course). When he saw Matt walk to the house, he stood up and his expression hardened at the sight of Ivan.

"Mattie, where the hell have you been?" He asked, crossing his arms like Arthur did when he was angry.

"I-I was just at Ivan's." Mattie admitted.

Ivan decided it was best then to speak up.

"If you were so damn curious, you could've sent him a text." Matthew looked up as Ivan also crossed his arms.

Alfred muttered something about his phone being muted and Mattie took his phone out. He was surprised to see that he had numerous texts from not only Alfred, but also from Francis and Gilbert.

_Hey! Little bro! Hurry up, mom and dad are waiting for you!_

_I'm leaving for McyD's if you don't hurry up!_

_Birdie? Where are you? Your brother called saying he didn't know where you were._

_Be okay for me, Birdie._

These were just a few of the texts Matthew had received throughout the night. He replied to Gilbert's messages, telling him that he was okay.

Ivan said his goodbye's to Matt and left. Alfred walked in the house behind Matthew, sipping on his soda quite loudly. Arthur seemed to be in bed already, Matthew didn't realize how late it was, and Francis greeted the two of them. He dismissed Matt's late return to home and simply told him to get to bed.

Matthew showered and went to bed for the night. Gilbert was texting him into the early hours of the morning where Matt simply fell asleep texting him.

The next couple days at school were fine. Ivan stayed from Natalia, and liked to hang out with Matthew, and Gilbert kept to his work and talked to Matthew during their free time. Whenever Matt brought up the subject of Ivan's house, however, he completely avoided the subject. He caught glimpses of the younger boy he saw with Gilbert the day he went to Ivan's. He was attending Junior classes, even though Gilbert had told him that he was a Sophmore. He smelled of alcohol some days and had a girl hanging around him. She was an odd thing, always happy and making the situations seem happier. Her brown hair had one weird curl sticking out the left side. He chided himself for being rude about the curl, because he himself had a rather odd curl that stuck out in front of him. He wondered if her curl was as sensitive to her as his was to him. But, then the bell rang and he had to hurry to his next class.

Cooking class dragged on that week. Ivan and Gilbert began glaring at each other. It made Matthew rather uncomfortable to see them like this. He followed Gilbert out of the class that afternoon.

"Gil?" He touched the German's shoulder and saw him jump. He must've not heard him.

"Oh," He said, and smiled. "Hello, Birdie. Something wrong?"

He twisted his hands together. "Well, I don't want to butt in on anything... but you and Ivan seem to be holding something against each other a-and I was just wondering if it had to kinda do anything with me going to his house.."

Gilbert watched as the Canadian worked his way around the question and sighed. He stepped forward, causing Matthew to step back, and whispered in his ear, "Be careful around Ivan for me, Birdie."

He walked away to his next class and left Matt blushing from being that close to him. What did he mean be careful around Ivan? Was there something dangerous with him?

Did Gilbert know something about him that he's trying to hide?

Was Ivan trouble?

**Okay, so I saw a few other authors doing this, so I thought: What the heck? Hi! I'm the author of the story. I just wanted to say hi and explain a few things. So, I know this is a PruCan fanfic, however, I didn't want it to be like the other stories on here. The boys meet, they get along, they fall in love, the end. So, I'm throwing Ivan in there to cause a little trouble. :P This is my first story on here, so please review and tell me how I'm doing! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4 Rage

Weeks passed and nothing changed much. Gilbert and Ivan would still glare at each other. Eyes filled with hate when they got a glance at each other, but they held a silent agreement. Ivan had begun to call Matt "Matvey", probably to imitate Alfred. It didn't bother Mattie much, but it was a little weird when Ivan would whisper it with a grin on his face.

Homecoming was coming soon. Matthew thought he'd sit this out again. Alfred had a date, another one of his temporary girlfriends, Matt knew immediately that it wouldn't last... they never did.

It was, Friday, two weeks before the night of homecoming, and none of the three boys seemed interested in going... until that night.

_Birdie, I have a question for you._

_Yea?_

_I was kind of, sort of wondering if you had plans the night of homecoming._

_No, just watching Netflix... why?_

_Because I was wondering if you'd spend it with me._

His heart stopped. At the same time a text from Ivan came through.

_Will you go to homecoming with me, Matvey?_

What was going on? What should he do? He remembered what Gilbert had told him about Ivan not too long before... "_Be careful around Ivan for me, Birdie_." He sighed and walked out to the living room in search of Francis.

Arthur was sitting on the couch, he was watching British television shows and muttering about his cooking. He and Francis must've gotten into another fight... Matt walked into the kitchen and found Francis cooking. Sweet smells of good food were wafting to him from whatever was in the pot, but Francis was grumbling about how something wasn't right about it. Matthew tapped his shoulder lightly.

"Papa?"

Francis turned around, a little shocked, but then smiled happily.

"Salut, Mathieu!" He greeted. He was always happy to see Matthew. "What brings you to the kitchen? Would you like a snack?" He was always spoiling him with the small things. Sure, Francis could break the bank with stuff he could buy for his favorite twin, but he seemed to prefer to show his love in the smallest ways.

Matthew shook his head. "Well, homecoming is soon... "he looked down at the phone in his hands and saw a few texts come through from both boys. "And two people asked me to... be with them that evening" Francis raised an eyebrow.

"Mathieu... What exactly do you mean... be with them?" He crossed his arms professionally. "If you mean as a date to the dance, that's one thing.. but if you mean they want to... do sweet things with you in bed, you say no."

Matthew blushed. Where did he get the idea that there were people out there openly asking him to sleep with them?!

"Papa!" He exclaimed, very flustered at the thoughts of him and Gilbert doing the things Francis was suggested slipped into his head. "I-I mean that one asked me to the dance and one asked me to hang out with them." Francis sighed in relief and leaned against the stove, thinking carefully before answering.

"I would tell you to go with whoever you feel the most comfortable with, but that wouldn't help much would it? Go with whoever asked you first." Francis responded, then turned around to tend to the food on the stove.

Matthew nodded and immediately felt bead. He'd love to go be with Gilbert. Just the thought of being around him made him feel happy! But what about Ivan? He probably needed an excuse to get away from Natalia. He looked at his phone and read the texts from Gilbert.

_Birdie?_

_The awesome me broke you... didn't I?_

Fingers shaking, he replied:

_I'd love to spend that time with you._

Somehow he managed to tell Ivan that he already had plans the night of the dance. He didn't know how, but he did it. He felt guilty at the obvious disappointment that Ivan felt, but he was able to tell him the truth.

Alfred was banging at Matthew's door later that night. It was late... what did his twin possibly need?

He opened the door, and Alfred stormed into the room, clearly angry.

"What's wrong, Al?" Matt asked quietly.

"What's wrong?" Alfred demanded incredulously. "What's wrong?! Your little Russian friend told me that you're actually dating that asshole Gilbert!" He stormed around the room, obviously looking for something.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Mattie?!" He yelled. "I told you to stay away from him! He's annoying!" He flipped Matt's desk chair. "He's obnoxious!" All of Mattie's homework flew off of his desk. "He's so fucking full of himself and his little brother is an alcoholic shithead!" He took a quick glance at the mess he made and stomped up to Matthew.

"Where the hell is your phone?" he growled.

Matthew felt his phone vibrate softly in his pajama pocket. It was probably Gilbert, but he wasn't risking taking his phone out to calm his brothers rage.

"Alfred..." Matt said carefully. "I-Ivan is wrong. I'm not dating Gilbert." He watched the slow realization of the truth spread across his face. "We're just friends... please understand."

Alfred covered his mouth, as if to take back what he said about his brother's friend, and realized everything that had happened. Without saying a word, Alfred left.

And Mattie was left to clean up the mess in his room by himself.


	5. Chapter 5 Mall Trip

That weekend was a change in pace for Matthew. Whether it was good or bad, was to be determined. He spent his Friday night cleaning his room up, he had no clue what was going on with Alfred. He came to the conclusion that he was just trying to deal with graduating soon and that Mattie wasn't going to listen to him forever. Neither of the boys told Arthur nor Francis what had happened that night. The chair didn't break, thankfully, and none of the homework was missing. What ever made Alfred snap like that was a mystery to Mattie. He was just glad he had gotten out all he needed, and it was over.

Saturday morning, everyone slept in(for a change) it was around eleven in the morning by the time everyone was up. Well, everyone except Alfred. Francis made omelettes for breakfast, at the request of Arthur, and Matthew helped to set the table, while still in the Maple Leaf Canadian pajamas Francis had gotten him for his birthday one year. Alfred walked downstairs just as everyone was getting ready to eat.

"Woah, omelettes!" He observed as he walked into the dining room. "Sweet! I thought Mom made breakfast again." Francis grumbled at the insult, telling himself and anyone else close enough to listen that his cooking was never that bland.

Ever since the boys had come to live with their uncle, they had called Arthur "Mom" and Francis "Dad"(or in Mattie's case "Papa"). It was an honest toddler mistake that had stuck with them throughout their lives.

"M-Morning, Al." Matt greeted his brother. The younger twin looked up at Matthew in surprise and smiled.

"Hey, dude!" He smiled and sat in his seat. "Mornin'!"

Matt pulled his phone out of his pajamas pocket and sent a text to Alfred as he sat down.

_What was the whole issue about last night?_

He slipped his phone in his pants pocket and waited for his response. Arthur insisted that when they sat at the table for any meal, they would interact with each other and not be "Warped into the world of technology." That they would grow to act like gentlemen.

The omlettes were quite delicous. Francis, being a natural cook, almost never failed to cook a good meal. He did slip up every now and then, however. Alfred replied quickly, but not soon enough to keep from getting a dissaproving look from Arthur.

_I dont like germans too much. Its something from when we were kids. _

Before Matthew could ask for him to elaborate on details, there was a knock at the door. Both of the boys stood to answer, but Arthur had already gotten up.

"Sit," he told them. "You two will eat, young men need to be well fed." And left to answer the door.

Matthew couldnt help but over hear a man with a german accent mix with their uncles british accent. A few moments later, Arthur led back a familiar boy with silver hair and crimson eyes.

"Gilbert!" Matthew exclaimed happily upon seeing him. Alfred grumbled at his presence and continued to eat. Francis stood and walked over to shake his hand.

"Beinvenue to our home, Gilbert." He greeted. "We apologize for not being dressed quite yet. We werent expecting company."

Gilbert smiled polietly and shook his hand. "I meant for it to be a surprise for Birdie. We're going on a surprise trip."

"Arent you supposed to be deported the hell out of the states and back to whoever the fuck you came from?" Alfred asked abruptly. Arthur glared at him and ordered him to apologize. What struck Matt as odd, was that Gilbert hadnt even flinched at the insulting question.

"Arent you supposed to be getting ready to lose the next big game?" Gilbert asked in return.

The room was silent as Alfred stuttered through the beginning of many insults. He was the captain of the football team, the leader, the Hero! How could he be respected for who he was and how he ranked as a student at school, but then be put as a person who loses constantly at home? And by a guest?

"Ja. I was hoping if you didnt mind that I took him out for a day. He told me he doesnt get out much." Gilbert turned to Francis, resuming the previous conversation.

Matthew felt his Papa's hand tighten on his shoulder, then nod hesitantly.

"Oui, I do not see an issue with it." Francis told him. Matthew smiled happily and got up from his seat.

"Merci, Papa!" He thanked him as he through his arms around him in a hug. He quickly ended the hug and ran upstairs to change.

A few moments later, he came down dressed in blue jeans, a blue T-shirt and his favorite Maple Leaf hoodie. It was a few sizes too big, but it was perfect in Matt's opinion, for it made up in its largeness with its softness on the inside. He hugged his parents goodbye, told his Papa "Á beintôt!" And left with Gilbert.

He slipped in the backseat of the car when Alfred closed the door unhappily. There, in the front seat, was the boy Gilbert was with that one day. He was introduced as "Ludwig" but Gilbert often called him "Luddy". Matt buckled his seat belt and introduced himself to the girl sitting next to him. She was the girl with a curl in her hair.

"H-Hi," he said, holding his hand out, "I'm Matthew." The girl excitedly took his hand and shook it very quickly and spoke quickly with an Italian accent.

"Ciao!" She exclaimed. "I'm Felicia, but all my friends call me Feli. And now that you are a friend of Gilbert's you're my friend, too! I love pasta! Do you love pasta? I think it's amazing! And that mean looking guy in the front seat is my boyfriend, Ludwig! He looks really mean, like he could beat you up, but he's a really soft guy and hes really nice if you give him beer. Beer is one of his favorite things!"

While the girl kept talking, she still hadnt let go of his hand. It was beginning to scare Matt. She continued talking as Gilbert started the car, pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street. Finally, Luddy spoke.

"Feli," he caught their attention with how suddenly he spoke. "Let his hand go. You're going to scare him out of the car."

Feli dropped his hand and started apologizing over and over. Matt looked to the front seat for help. He made eye contact with Gilbert, who grinned. Matt tried sending his thoughts to him, or make his plea known. Gilbert winked in the mirror and continued to drive.

When the car had parked, Mattie looked out the window. They had parked in a malls parking lot... Why? He knew that Gilbert said they were having a day out, but he didn't think that he really meant coming here. He pulled his wallet out and checked how much money he had. He still had twenty or thirty dollars from last time he had gotten paid. Each time he did, Alfred came running to him for help because he spent his all in a day. He also had fifty dollars in Canadian money, but he didn't think he was going to get away with using the money here.

They all got out of the car and Feli continued to talk. She hasn't stopped talking since... How long ago did they leave Matt's house? Fifteen... Twenty minutes ago? He didn't mind it very much, it kept from awkward silences. Gilbert walked with Matthew and Feli clasped to Ludwig's hand. They walked into the mall where Feli hugged Matthew tightly, exclaiming how happy she was to have him as a friend.

Ludwig held his hand out to Gilbert, as if he was expecting something from him.

"Ja, ja. I promised you money." He grumbled and handed Ludwig a handful of money. "Don't waste all of it getting arrested trying to buy beer again."

Mattie looked at the german, confused. How was a sixteen year old like him buying beer? And who was he getting it from? After he and Gilbert has seen other two walk away, he turned and asked the question.

"Youre brother drinks beer?" He asked innocently, look up at him. Gilbert sighed and nodded.

"Ja," he sighed. "The awesome me is related to a mini alcoholic." Matt nodded, showing that he heard him.

"But, let's not waste our time on that," Gilbert said with a grin. He grabbed Matthews hand, causing him to blush, and pulled him into the store.

"Your bruder is an ass, by the way." Gilbert said to Matt. They were sitting in an A&W sipping on Root Beer floats. They had already been to a few stores, but they had yet to stop by what Gilbert called one of the two best stores. Gilbert had grabbed a few shirts while stopping in the few stores.

"Yea, I know he is." Matt sighed. He slurped the rest of his drink and looked up. He caught Gilbert staring at him, a small smile on his face, the look in his eyes was something of awe and adorance. Matt blushed.

"W-What're you looking at?" He asked. Gilbert smirked as if he had just won something.

"Nothing," he said. "Just still amazed that a cutie like you still isn't taken up by someone."

Matts blush deepened and he looked down at his now empty cup. Gilbert laughed and reached across the table and patted this hand.

"If your done with that, Birdie, I still have two stores to take you to." He said. Matthew nodded and threw his cup away in the trash can next to him. Some kids from school walked by, jocks from some team or another.

"Woah!" One of them said. "Jones! When did you get here?!" He slapped a hand on his shoulder and looked at him waiting for an answer.

"I-I'm not Alfred," Matthew tried explaining.

"Stop playing with us, bro!" The boy said. "Where were you this morning? We missed you at practice."

"If any of you dummkopfs can see, he's not Alfred." Gilbert spoke up when he noticed how much Mattie was suffering from the confusion. "He's Matthew, the older brother." He tugged gently Matthews curl, causing him to gasp and blush ferociously. "The curl gives it away." The boys stood there for a moment, processing that it wasnt Alfred before leaving without a word.

Matt turned and glared at Gilbert, rubbing one of his cheeks to get the blood flowing to other places in his body. Gilbert looked at him and laughed.

"What's that face for, Birdie?" He laughed.

"Y-You pulled my curl!" He accused. Gilbert gave him a "so what?" face. "N-No one pulls pulls my curl! I-It's sensitive..."

Gilbert grinned when he realized what advantage he get out of it and stood up.

"C'mon," he grabbed Matthew's arm and helped him up. "I have to take you to the best stores. Hot Topic and Spencers."

Walking into his house that night, he heard Gilbert drive away with Luddy and a tired Feli before taking his shoes off. He was then surprised by a hug from Francis.

"Did you have a good time?" He asked the boy hefore he could drop the bags. Mattie nodded and hugged him back. The bags held nothing but soft things, so he dropped them on the ground.

"J'étais, Papa." He replied. Francis smiled.

"Bein," Francis pulled back from the hug and patted him on the back. "Now, I must insist you go to bed. It's rather late, and you know how Arthur is when he knows neither you nor your brother got enough sleep." Matthew nodded, picked up his bags, and walked upstairs.

He made his way to his room and shut his door, hoping Al was already asleep. He pulled out the contents of the bags.

A large yellow bird, which Gilbert gave him and named Mattbird, a large t-shirt with a picture for the Goonies on it, and a large stuffed animal puppy named Maple. As he shook the contents of the bag, he found a set of pictures that fell out. The kind bestfriends and couples take while at the mall. Gilbert took a copy of them, and Matt kept the other one. The first picture was a nice picture, only because Matthew insisted on it. The rest were goofy and funny pictures. The last picture was he favorite, though. In the picture Gilbert had climbed onto Matt's back and pumped his fist in the air. The boys were both laughing in the picture and Gilbert had exclaimed something about himself and Prussia... But what it was, he couldnt remember. He smiled and tucked the picture under his pillow. When he lied his head on the pillow, he almost dozed off.

There was a noise in the room, later, that woke him up slightly. He opened an eye to see what it was, and all he could make out was a tall figure in a long scarf and a voice hefore dozing off again.

"Matvey?"

**Hi, guys! So, heres the update! It took me a while to write, but here we go! It went through a lot just to get it to where its at now, but I'm happy with it. So, what'll happen next? I'm working on. Oh! And Gilbert touched the curl! It took me a lot to put that part in, but I'm glad AI did. Please, dont forget to review!**


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